Saying Farewell

After an amazing two months of experiencing the Doulos, it was time for us short termers to say farewell. What makes the Doulos is the people and through their fellowship and care the crew became my home away from home. I will miss all of them very much. 

Everyone taught me so much. I watched the dedication of my shift leader as he consistently worked to serve his staff and visitors on board. I was humbled watching so many talented and bright individuals selflessly serve as they took on the lowest of the low tasks. I was inspired by the brilliant fervor of my cabin mates to do additional outreach in their free time.

These individual have a wealth that transcends this world. It is not found in status or material possessions but rather in the their deep relationship with Christ that manifests itself in loving words and deeds.

Above all else what my fellow crew taught is that if you want to make a difference in this world, just do it. 

The time is now.

International Night

What draws many visitors to the Doulos is its  diverse crew. There are over 50 different countries represented on the ship. In America, we take for granted the fact that we are a melting pot. Particularly in NYC its normal to see Blacks, Whites, Hispanics and Asians all living within the same neighborhood. But Asian countries are quite homogenous. For them its intriguing to see so many people from different backgrounds all living and working together in peace. 

At the end of most port visits, the Doulos puts on a show called International Night. The program consist of many musical and dance performances from various cultures around the world. Some of the performances included a American Swing Dancing, Philippine Tikiling Dance, Tae Kwon Do, African Gumboot dance, and Scottish Dances. I participated in a parade of nations, dressed up as a cowboy. I assured people that every american dresses that way back home and rides a horse to work. Yee Haw!

While the performance is a lot of fun, the hope is that it shows people how our faith enables us to embrace each others cultural differences to live and work in peace.

The Simple Things in Life

Today we went out to help with a Habitat for Humanity project located up in a mountain overlooking Kota Kinabalu. The ships van was like an offroad atv as we ascended up a narrow dirt path to the house. Along the way we stopped to help a couple guys push their pickup truck out of a ditch. 

Upon arrival we were warmly greeted by the family whose home we had come to help build. They had been living in church housing located just down the hill. Since July (many teams including a few from the Doulos) had come to help with the construction. 

We helped with clearing out the stones from the driveway area. Many of the rocks appeared to be quite small on the surface. But most of them were just the tip of the iceberg. As we dug we unearthed many large stones and had to smash them up with sledge hammers in order to remove them. It was really hard work but a lot of fun.

The family had four young sons all under the age of six. Despite their age these kids were tough. They picked up sledge hammers and helped us break apart large stones and haul them off. It was amazing to see how the kids were able to entertain themselves for hours with simple things such pushing each other around in wheel barrows. 

Heavy rains came in the afternoon and they tried to catch water droplets from the roof

Growing up I remember whining if I didn't have the latest and greatest gadget and I'd say most children do the same. These kids appreciated the small moments in lifemade do with what they had. 

After a full day, the family thanked us for our work. Often those you help, end up helping you in ways you can never imagine.

Welcoming the New K.K. Preship

Most of the volunteers on board are on two year stints. They receive about a month of prep training prior to coming to the ship. Half of that training occurs at what's called a Go conference in Mosbach, Germany while the other half occurs in the local port where the group will join the Doulos. Their pre-ship training covers everything from outreach techniques to water safety and survival. Though these recruits mix with the rest of the ships company through out their time on the Doulos, much camaraderie is built during their training.  These groups of about 60-70 volunteers are called "Preships." Every six months an old Preship leaves the ship as a new one joins. 

I had the privilege of seeing the new Kota Kinabalu Preship arrive and it was quite a spectacle. Many of the current crew members dress up in their international costumes to welcome the new recruits. Almost all the crew were on the docks waving their country's flag, cheering the K.K. Preshippers as they approached their new home on board. 

One of the very special qualities of the people on board is much they make you feel welcomed. Within my first hours on the Doulos I was greeted by countless crew members. Not because they had to, but because they genuinely wanted to make everyone feel at home. I hoped that I could do the same for our new peers. Good begets good. 

Patience Taught, Patience Learned

A group of four of us were tasked with performing a program on the Doulos around the theme of "abundant life" at a Christian youth class. Unfortunately one of our team members came under the weather at the last minute so there were only three of us to entertain sixty teenagers for a couple hours.  As I've been learning, outreach rarely goes according to plan so we just worked around it. 

One of our team members, an older gentleman (whom I'll call John) was not willing to perform some of the skits and activities we had planned on doing. With a furrowed brow and folded arms he exclaimed, "I don't do skits. I can never remember what I'm supposed to do and I always miss my cue." I found myself frustrated at the fact that we not only had one less person on the team but that John was unwilling to be flexible. I prayed, please give me the patience to deal with John. Rather than bashing heads, myself and my other team member tried to help John overcome his disinterests. We reassured him that he could fulfill the task with a little practice. We went over the drama skit several times to make sure he knew what to do. 

After our program we were to break down into groups and discuss with the kids what they thought living an abundant life meant. To support our topic, John suggested using some rope to show some knot tying tricks. The rope tricks seemed impossible but by sleight of hand worked like magic. The idea was to illustrate that nothing is impossible with God. I humored John having him show me the seemingly simple tricks. I watched him put the end of a string through a loop without ever feeding it through the loop in the first place. Baffled, I couldn't figure out where the sleight of hand was. I watched over and over but still couldn't figure it out. Without getting annoyed, John repeated the exercise until I could figure it out. The person whom we had to demonstrated patience to earlier was not showing patience in return. It was a humbling moment.

A volunteer picked us up and brought us to the youth program. For a couple hours we ran our program and John was able to help out with the skit that we practiced. I gave a testimony of how I came to my faith. 

We talked about our experience working on the Doulos and the joy of serving those in need around the world. Afterwards we broke into groups and I had to facilitate a discussion with about twenty teenagers. It was definitely a challenge to keep their attention as they grew distracted and antsy. Just as our discussion ran out of steam, I busted out an art history book to show them a painting by Rembrandt of Jesus crossing the Sea of Galilee. They became engaged and it helped them visualize our topic of discussion. All in all, we had a great time. 

 

I never ended up needing to use the rope tricks. But through out the day, it was clear that acting out of patience rather than frustration can work through any challenge.

Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia

After a four day voyage we arrived in Kota Kinabalu (otherwise known as K.K.), in East Malaysia. We were greeted by locals in traditional Malay costumes as they played drums. As a greeting from our diverse international crew, many were waving their home country flags off the port side of the ship.

While at sea, we had reset up the book shop so that we could open on the day of our arrival. All the bookshelf cabinets had to be uncovered and unpacked. It was a good days worth of hard work. Already on our first day we had several thousand visitors come on board. 

We received a port orientation on local culture and language. I had been learning Thai phrases the past month and now needed to shift gears and start practicing some Malay greetings. After a great voyage I was anxious to get back into doing some outreach work. 

'Tis Easier to Steer a Moving Ship

The other day my friend Geoff was reflecting on a pastors message. The pastor talked about how in life you can't grow unless you go out there and just seize opportunities that will shape you. The outcome can never really predicted. You just need to take that first step in order for the grounding to be provided under your feet. In essence, its easier to steer a moving ship than one that is still.

Today I had the privilege of steering the ship. The physical act of steering was both a literal and metaphorical representation of the devotional my friend shared the other day. I was thankful for the opportunity to be at the helm.

Life at Sea

One of the fun/annoying parts of being at sea are the drills. In order to make sure all long term crew know what do in the event of an emergency, drills are practiced during every voyage. All crew members have designated areas of the ship to meet at called muster stations. Yesterday the bell rang and we rushed to our cabins to put on our life preservers to get to our muster stations. Once there we had to sit around and fill out a customs form for entry into Malaysia.


Also as part of the drills deckies throw a dummy overboard, manually lower the life boats and practice water rescue. In addition there are fire fighters on board that gear up and practice as well. Its pretty fun to watch.

Farewell Bangkok

Our last couple days in Bangkok saw over 14,000 visitors in the bookshop. I was working in the ticket booth when we opened and after only an hour, the line was three fold long and wrapped the shipyard warehouse. You couldn't even move in the shop it was really encouraging to see all the people coming out to see the ship. In total we had 52, 000 visitors in our shop while in Bangkok.


Yesterday the deckies lifted the ticket booth, vans and gangways up by crane and we departed the shipyard at 2pm Before we left though, the port had arranged a traditional Thai music and dance performance to send us off. It was a really great way to close our time in the city as we prepared for our five day journey to Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.



Even though our shop is closed during the voyage, we had a lot of work to do as we did a full pack down of the entire inventory. Because some trips at sea can be rough all the shelves moved to the center of the shop and be securely chained down and covered with a tarp. While it was a lot of work we had a lot of fun.


All bookshop staff get redistributed to other departments during the voyage so I asked to be put on the deck. Today I scrubbed the decks and had a great time doing some physical work and breathing fresh air.


As the ship sailed through the vast ocean I was reminded and humbled by how small man really is.

Faith Trip 2

The other day a group of us went on a "faith trip." You bring nothing but water, maybe a bible and one camera for the group. The goal is to test your faith and see where it leads you. A group could find itself helping people out in the slums, striking up random conversation with strangers and telling them about the ship, or going into schools and offering help, etc. The possiblities are endless.

Before my group left we prayed to see if we felt lead anywhere in particular. For whatever reason I kept seeing an image of an airplane in my head. I'm not sure where it was coming from or what it meant. It seemed as though everyone else was having a hard time focussing because we were in the dining hall and it was quite noisy. We all agreed we should go to a quiet place perhaps to do a bible study.

We took a free bus to a busier part of town and the ticket collector was holding a sign that said "airport". Rather than going all the way to the airport we decided to get off because we had heard that it was quite far outside the city. As we walked we continued to see signs with an airplane on it we followed them. We saw a small child begging for change. Since we had no change or food to give him, we decided to go around the corner and pray for his well being and that he would be able to get off the streets. As soon as we finished we turned around and he was gone. He was walking down the street and then went into a store.

As we walked, my friend Sjoerd, said it would be cool to go up on a tower and pray for the city of Bangkok. A minute later we saw a big building with the name “ Lumpani Tower ” on it. As we walked over we realized it was a bank and insurance company. I thought for sure we wouldn’t be able get in. I entered the side of the building, walked up to the security guard and asked if the top floor was open to the public for a view of the city. It was so random and I was expecting them to tell us to leave. To my surprise they said, sure and got an employee to take us to not only the top floor, but onto the helicopter landing pad. The view was amazing. We had a complete 360 of the city and then we all split up into each side of the building to pray for each corner of Bangkok. It was a total gift that I never expected. Above the city line we had been given one of the quietest places in all of Bangkok.

From the roof we saw a big park and decided to go there next. After going down to the ground floor and thanking the security booth thoroughly we headed towards our new destination. Our time in the park was well spent as we read some scripture and prayed that we would be able to figure out what to do next. Just then, a mentally and physically handicapped man walked right up and sat down next to me. He shook my hand. He didn’t understand English but we tried to ask him if he needed any help. I reached into my bag to get a flyer from the ship but motioned as if he didn't want anything at all, not even money. I’m not sure if he understood us but we went ahead and prayed for him. And as soon as we finished he smiled, nodded then walked away. It was bizarre but really cool that of all the people in the park he chose to sit with us.

We walked for another hour in the park and eventually noticed a red man laying under a tree. It was really an odd sight and he looked exhausted. A couple of us went over to talk with him. I wasn't sure if he was a painter or what but his arms, face and legs were covered in red paint. We offered him some water and he gladly accepted. Tired and hungry we walked through the gritty slums but were unable to meet anyone. After a long day we headed back to the ship.

It was a really challenging exercise to have no money or food to push our limits and live in the moment.

Stars, Cars and Dinosaurs

Today we went to a nursery school program for children between the ages of 3-5. Run by a Christian NGO, the school reaches out to the local slums. Parents who are either working or can't take care of their children during the day can drop their children off for a day of programs. For 10 Thai Baht (33 cents) the child can have a safe learning environment that also includes a meal. Sometimes families struggle just to be able to pay that amount.

Pictured left is a vacant lot located next to the school. Some years ago, there had been a fire that had destroyed many homes in the slums so this area had been set up with emergency tents for 55 families. Can you imagine that many families all living in a lot this size?

Basically all we had to do was entertain the kids for a couple hours so we brought face paint and balloons and had some fun dramas planned out. Our team of six split up into two groups. Three of my friends performed a program where they sang songs and acted out a simple drama with a message on forgiveness. They had a lot of fun playing with all the kids as they danced around.

The rest of us went through four class rooms and did face painting. We actually painted their hands as many of the children come from Buddhist families and touching the head is considered disrespectful. The kids were really cute and sat patiently as I painted butterflies, stars, cars, and dinosaurs on their hands. I had a great time and wished we could have stayed longer.

The Slums

The other day a couple of us went for a walk through the slums near where the ship is berthed. Located under a bridge over pass the homes had electricity and running water, others were mere shacks put together with scrap wood. I had flash backs of when I was in Peru and our team distributed food to similar communities that lived under a bridge in Lima. These pictures I've posted really don't do the area justice. It was an eye opening experience for me as I hadn't yet ventured into the slums. I'm blown away to see how much Bangkok has developed since my first visit to the city many years ago.















Though parts of the city have become gentrified the slums are still quite prevalent throughout. A mother bathed her baby in a wooden crate on the side of the road.

An emaciated man walked along the train tracks looking for scrap wood. His sunken eyes revealed deep sadness. I felt helpless as I knew there was nothing we could do in our short time here. I hope and pray the permanent missionaries, NGOs and outreaches would help alleviate some of the poverty in the city.

A Royal Visit

The Crown Princess of Thailand came to visit our ship on Monday. It was considered a great privilege to have her visit our ship as Thai Royalty is treated with utmost respect and honor. We got a short orientation on the her life. She has an impressive record of trying to improve the lives of the people of Thailand and has started many philanthropic and educational foundations. She is extremely sharp and speaks fluently English, French and Chinese. The Thais look up to her with much admiration.

The port where the ship is docked, painted all the warehouses with the royal color (blue). Our ship had been cleaning, touching up with paint and preparing a program for her. Decorations were hung up all over the ship. One of the crew members from the Philippines stayed up all night preparing flower arrangements for the main lounge. I snapped some pics of the workers as they cleaned the dock in preparation for her visit.


Only some of the crew were allowed on the ship at the time. They had received training on how to bow, sit before and pay respect to the Princess. Unfortunately I could not be on board to see the event. But the day after her visit the director of read us his speech that he had addressed to her. It was quite impressive and he paid much respect to her and her accomplishments. He spoke eloquently of the ship and its purpose; that the crew came from many cultures and backgrounds but ultimately we were all here to serve out of our faith.


It was a positive experience for the crew's company and I hoped that she had a memorable time in our ship.

Roll with It

Yesterday we went on another outreach day to an all girls catholic school. Our team leader had received no information as to what kind of work we would be doing at the school. Weloaded up the van with some educational children's books with the hopes that we could set up a mini book fair. There must have been miscommunication with our ship's coordinator because when we arrived at the school the director asked us what program we were to present to the students. Our reaction was, "uhhhhh........"

But as I'm learning on the ship, very rarely does outreach go according to plan and you just have to be flexible. Fortunately we brought some international flags and maps of the world so we set up a table with all the books with our props as decorations. Initially we set up in a hallway that had little foot traffic. It was quiet and no one would come up to our table. The school was having a mothers day celebration where the students would play games and sell or buy sweets, food and invite their moms to come visit the school. It was on the eve of the Queen's birthday (which is a huge day in Thailand.) We moved the table around the corner to an open courtyard area. Immediately we were swarmed with students. It was fun to practice my Thai with them and some of the older students volunteered to help out.


In addition, they took us around their school to show us the facilities and share about their curriculum. The school's speciality is languages. So in addition to having impeccable English all the students took French, Chinese or Italian. It was quite impressive and motivated me more to learn their language.


We sold a lot of books and had fun working with the student volunteers. Though we didn't come with a set program or plan, the director and students were so appreciative that we came. Everyone just rolled with it and I was really taken aback by their warmth and hospitality. In a way they had reached out to us more than the other way around. Sometime those you serve end up serving you.

Being Present

The day was slow and the humidity high as I sat at our bookshop info booth wondering if anything interesting would happen. Few visitors trickled in but the day seemed to drag.

All of a sudden three Buddhist monks appeared out of the corner of my eye. Dressed in orange robes they were wandering around the our shop for quite some time and I wondered what books they had picked up. A voice inside me told me to go up and chat with them to see if they needed any help. I chose to remain behind the comfort of the info booth and decided not to bother them. Moments later, one of the monks approached me and asked for help finding a particular book. Unfortunately we didn't have what he was looking for in stock. As I perused his selections I was excited to see that he had John Eldridge's "Wild at Heart." Its a great Christian inspirational novel that really was an epiphany for me a couple years ago. I shared my enthusiasm for its message and he seemed excited to read it. After asking me a few questions about the ship, I thought he and his friends would enjoy a tour. I was able to get out of my shift and seize the moment to share our ship and its story with them.

It was a fun time as we went around the deck through the various facilities like the kitchen and on board fire station. They were intrigued that so many people from over forty countries could live and work together. I explained that we come from different backgrounds and cultures, but what brings us together is our faith in Christ.

We walked past some pictures of the ships various outreach projects and I told them of our mission to bring help, hope and knowledge. Not only does the ships crew bring practical help to local communities by building homes, working in orphanages, donating books, teaching English, but that we also are able to share our faith through our service to those in need. Again the three men were very interested and wanted to know more about life on the ship.

We hung out in the dining room for a bit and I asked if they had any questions about the ship. Our conversations lead into talking about our faiths. I've been reading about Theravada Buddhism (which is the type of Buddhism practiced in most of south east asia) and was interested to learn more about their fundamental beliefs. They were very open to sharing and then asked me about my faith and how I became Christian. This was a challenge as I had to shape my testimony around how I thought they would best receive it.
To be honest I've never really shared my faith with too many people, let alone a devout Buddhist. Because they asked and were eager to hear me out, it was easier and more rewarding than I expected.

Afterwards I took them back up to the deck and they were on their way. I was glad that we all got a chance to chat and that they could see the ship and its people. What could have been a uneventful day turned out to be a great learning experience. Its easy to stay comfortable but its more rewarding to be present.

The goal of Christian missions is not to forcefully change or convert peoples beliefs. Rather,the aim is to be available, to serve and to share gently and respectfully how your faith has changed your life with the hopes that it may touch the lives of others.

Schooled

Today I participated in a fun outreach at to teach english to kids from ages 6-12. A church that reaches out the local community offers english classes throughout the summer went to provide the day's activities. Our team had a brief meeting yesterday to figure out some drama skits and games we could perform. But I really had no idea what to expect. Some staff from the church picked us up at the ship and we rode in the back of their converted toyota pickup. I was having a great time as we zoomed through the streets of Bangkok.

When we arrived at the church the kids were already there, waiting patiently in a classroom. Pretty much the whole day's worth of activities were up to us so we dove in an busted out a big map of the world to show them where we all came from. Our team members came from Korea, America, South Africa and the Philpines. We did some drama skits that were a blast and to get the kids riled up. Through an interpreter we talked about the ship and why were serving there.

After practicing phrases like "My name is..." and greetings we busted out some games to make the learning fun. We broke the kids down into two teams and called out words like family, country, history, people, etc. so that they could hear the pronounciation. They then had to grab cards that had that corresponding word on it. It was so much fun to watch them get faster and faster as they learned.

There were times of randomness and hilarity. At one point the kids were getting fidgety and we thought they wanted to go pee so we did a five minute break. Bathroom break soon changed as the pastor of the church announced "ICE CREAM." All the kids, including my team members raced out the room like raptors to get a treat. Towards the end of the day, they were maxed out on flash cards so we played dodge ball and I totally got schooled.

Teaching the kids english wasn't just for kicks. The pastor explained to me that learning english is the best way for Thais to get better jobs. There are many international companies in Bangkok so learning the language can be a ticket out of poverty.

I had a blast and it really was a great experience. On the way to the church I asked our team leader, Rex, if we should plan the days activities out. "Naw," he said "you'll see, once we get there, it'll all work itself out." Sometimes the best laid plans are no plans at all.

Journey to Bangkok

On Tuesday, July 29th we departed Sihanoukville, Cambodia to sail to Bangkok, Thailand. I was sad to leave Cambodia and I missed our local volunteers that had been so great to us on the ship. We sailed for one day and during our journey we had to break down the bookshop. All the shelves had to be moved to the center of the shop and covered up to keep the books dry in the event of a storm or a rough ride. After we wrapped that stuff up I was able to enjoy the ride. All of the ships vans had been raised up by crane and put up onto the car deck the night before. I went out to the car deck to scope out the wide open horizon.

For one day we sailed along the Cambodian and Thai coast. Around mid day on Monday a bunch of us had to go to the book hold in the bottom of the ship to pack up books being sent to our sister ship in the Caribbean. We sent several hundred boxes up to the deck to be hauled off once we arrived in the port. The only bummer part of it was that we were unable to see our arrival. Generally when the ship comes into port people wave their home country flags to show our international community on board.

My cabin is in the bow of the ship so all night we were feeling the waves. It was cool to hear the waves crashing up along side of our wall. I listened to some music to try and distract myself from the movement but eventually I got used to it and I didn't get sea sick.

We maneuvered up a industrial canal, passing Thai tankers and Navy ships. Pulling into port we arrived around 4pm on Wednesday. I was really looking forward to all the possible outreach opportunities here in Bangkok.

More than Survivors

On Sunday we had the privilege of hearing a survivor of the Khmer Rouge killing fields come to preach at our service. I was amazed to hear his life story. He didn't share all the details of living under Pol Pot's regime. But what he did mention was that as a child he prayed that if he survived, he would dedicate his life to serving others and preaching the Gospel. All of his brothers and sisters were killed. Miraculously, he was the only who survived. Now a pastor in Denver, CO, here he was preaching back in his formerly war ravaged country.


People in Cambodia are survivors by nature. On the ship, I was lucky enough to serve with some volunteers from a Christian orphanage in Phom Penh who again opened my eyes the harsh life in southeast Asia. Some of the volunteers came with us on our faith trip a few days ago. They seemed happy and healthy. Before the ship left, one of the volunteers wrote me a note that said, "Thank you for being a brother. I have no brothers, no sisters, no mother or father. I am so sad."

Over the course of two weeks, the volunteers we served with had become our friends. Though there was deep pain that lay under the surface of their smiles, they shared a joy that was nothing short of amazing. How could these teens with no family and so much pain exude so much warmth and love? Nearly all of them shared that their faith had led them to a desire to serve those in need in Cambodia.

To me the pastor who came and the volunteers are more than survivors, they are conquerors. Their courage was a testimony to the powerful tranformative power of their faith in Christ. I am thankful and humbled to have met them.

The Fruits of Labor

On Sunday our bookshop shift decided to do some work for a local HIV hospital for children. James, one of the book shop workers met with the director of the hospital to see what kind of help our crew could provide. Meeting a director of any hospital back home would never happen, but here in Cambodia as long as you can provide some sort of service for free, you can pretty much schedule a meeting immediately. Originally, James thought the deckies would only have to build a bookshelf and the ship would provide free children's books. The book shelves were built, but we also ended up cleaning and painting a building that was going to be a designated quarantine area for final phase HIV and swine flu patients.

Our group walked into the decrepit building with grimy walls and cob webs hanging from every corner. It was most definitely in need of a face lift. It was amazing to see how the group rallied and within three hours all walls had been scrubbed thoroughly and we had a fresh coat of paint on. The following day we repainted the inside as well as the outside of the building. I was given the task of painting a mural with one paint brush. I had an hour to finish it. I gathered some help and we had so much fun as I designed a simple abstract design that wrapped around the room. It was sad to think though that this building was essentially where people were brought for their final days of resting peace.

While we were working some of the children from the clinic came to watch us work. They view us with curious eyes as anyone who's not Cambodian sticks out like a sore thumb. At one point one of our team members took out some balloons and we began blowing them up for the kids. They started giggling and had fun to no end. They loved throwing the balloons up in the air and trying to catch them. It was amazing and joyful to see how the children that lived under such despereate situations could appreciate the smallest moments in life.

After painting we visited the clinic. Children lay on their beds with deep sorrow in their eyes. One baby lay in a hammock, lifeless as a nurse treated her. The scene was emotionally heavy and I felt helpless. Their sadness left and indelible mark on my heart.

Afterwards I prayed for the children and hoped that God worked though our efforts to help make the ward more pleasant than it had been.